Care of Children and Young People
Worksheet

P1 Outline why children and young people may need to be looked after away from their families

Learning Outcome
Learners will understand why children and young people might need to be looked after

Success Criteria
Learners will be able to; * explain what is meant the term ‘looked after’ * briefly outline the provisions of the Children Order and explain how children become ‘looked after’ by agreement with their parent and by a compulsory Care Order * use examples to outline the potential reasons for children/young people becoming ‘looked after’

What does it mean to be ‘Looked after’? What does the term ‘Looked After’ mean?This term was once known as ‘Children in care’ and it later changed to looked after children by the Northern Ireland Children Order in 1995 and this refers to those who are subject to care orders and those who are voluntarily accommodated. The children order address a wide range of situations and the main one under this order is to protect children against abuse.Where do Looked After Children (LAC) live?Most young people who are being looked after are cared for by foster carers, two thirds live with foster parents and on average they could be with the foster parents for a short period of 9 months but in some cases the child has been with the foster carers for a number of years. There are alternative ways for the child to be looked after and these could be in children’s homes where 12% of looked after children live. There are also specialised children’s homes for children who have disabilities. Some of the other ways that a child can be looked after are with someone from their family and that person will be known as the child’s kinship carer. An example of a kinship carer would be a brother or sister. The child could also be looked after by someone from their extended family or